One way or another, America will remind the black community that their lives ain’t worth shit. I know some people will say that’s extreme. Some will just reject that statement and blame black people in some way, shape or form. They will say I’m whining (again). But, stories of black people being murdered left and right by other blacks, whites and in some recent cases Latinos have been streaming for decades with no end in sight.

The murder of Jordan Davis and the murder-suicide of Kansas City Chief football player Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend and mother of his child Kasandra Perkins are two recent instances with different outcomes. Both ended with similar messages.

Jordan Davis was a 17 year-old black male. He was murdered by 45 year-old Michael Dunn in an argument regarding loud music. Dunn was probably scared as hell when he saw a vehicle full of black boys blasting their music. He asked them to turn it down. They soon got into an argument, and shots were fired. Davis was the only occupant killed.

Already, the press is trying to dig up, or in some cases drum up, anything they can to minimize Davis’ murder as if the young man had it coming to him. As you know young black men getting killed is expected because this society believes they’ve done something to get themselves killed in the first place. Young black men are criminals, thugs, rapists, superpredators, gang members and violent robbers in the public’s eye. So, their deaths are considered nothing short of a blessing. One less black male life means one less crime to happen in America.

But Davis was no criminal. He had no criminal past. And he was not armed. Yet, you can bet your bottom dollar that some will still consider this man as a threat that deserved to die.

The second story delivers a similar message but a troubling national habit. Kasandra Perkins was murdered by her boyfriend Jovan Belcher of the Kansas City Chiefs before he soon turned the gun on himself. The NFL and their fans mourned the loss of Belcher more so than they cared to mention about Perkins. All games proceeded as scheduled and Belcher is remembered as a great player.

In the cases of murder-suicides which are mostly carried out by males society tends to focus more on the killer than the victims, especially victims of color. Belcher’s suicide supersedes the murder of his girlfriend and mother of a now parentless child in the mainstream media and among sports fans.

It is a common reaction to find some sort of explanation as to why someone would take the life of another before taking his or her own life, and sometimes the blame is directed to the victim. It is irresponsible to blame the victim for something they never asked for. Perkins didn’t want to die, especially by a violent death. She didn’t do anything that would warrant her demise.

It is foul not to remember the victim in all this, the young mother who didn’t ask to die. It is even more wrong to find some sort of fault in her. It is another way of saying that somehow, she asked to die. Thus, her life is rendered unimportant.

The high rate of black men and black women dying violently in society continues to not be considered vital enough for serious discussion or action. Any conversation is thwarted by blame mongers who never thought twice about the crisis until it is intimated. Any action to fix the problem never gets the adequate help it needs. This promotes the ideal that dying-while-black is nothing to worry about. This also reveals how much America feels about a massive growth of succeeding black men and women, they can’t have that happening on their watch.

Intra-racial black violence (IBV), commonly referred as black-on-black violence, has been plaguing poor black communities for years, and while the national rate of crime has been declining, IBV stubbornly remains way too high. Of course, there are theories and explanations behind it, but it continues to take thousands of black lives every year. Many citizens, including some members of the black community, particularly those of middle and upper class neighborhoods, buy into the simple reason that black people are their own problem and that this is a “black problem”. Other factors are purposely blanked out for “image” reasons. Still, the lives of black people in America are thrown away as if they are nothing.

The crisis continues because America wants it to continue. Black people are considered a problem race, and IBV is correcting the problem itself. Recently, there was a murder in my area. A young black male was shot and killed by an unknown suspect who’s not yet arrested, as far as I know. But I already know what he looks like. He too is a young black male.

It is one of many slayings going on in this nation. At the time of the shooting I have no doubt to believe other black men and black women were killed by other mostly other blacks and some nonblacks. They are nothing more than statistics in this world. Unless America wakes up and realizes that black lives are valuable just like anyone else’s, the bloody saga will continue and America will only have itself to blame in the end.

the path to love peace and happiness
seems to be through gaining enough knowledge wisdom and understanding.
only then will we achieve freedom justice and equality.

there is a commenter and blogger – an african unknown nationality male – sig name :kwamlahttp://wordpress.kwamla.com/?p=6
who’s written some interesting things on his blog about dying and death.
one of the things he posted – that he said he derived from other sources is that no one dies unless they choose to and no

one dies with reason(or something like that)
I still have not invested the time to validate his derived assertions but I think they are very interesting and pertient to this issue.

When I first started this comment I felt a sense of uregency however now hummm….

Mary…I really believe…If the few of us who know that we are strongest as a committed community, and realize that we must examine all things that were removed form us and reclaim those things, (Because they were taken for a reason) We can survive the socio-economic-bio carnage. Its weather or not we determine to come together with a common cause.